Personal Responsibility as It Relates to College Success

Personal Responsibility as It Relates to College Success

Even though whether we are successful or not is all up to us as individuals, personal responsibility is key to being successful in college because the average college student will spend half as much of their time in a class room as opposed to when they were in high school and as a student you will need to set priorities in your life and develop the discipline needed to do well in college.

Personal responsibility is a person's capability to take care of their self by means of keeping a sound mind, staying healthy, and managing their emotions. Responsibility starts with being held accountable and understanding that consequences are the direct results of your actions. When mistakes are made the initial reaction is always to make excuses or point the finger at someone else. When we shift blame we are only moving farther away from our goals. Students have to learn to take responsibility for their education and identify their educational goals. If we as students hold ourselves accountable for our actions we are more likely to move toward college goals.

How can we be successful in college, what is the foundation to success in college? An example of how we can start to be successful would be setting priorities like making it to class on time, turning in homework and studying for tests. The traditional college student has many challenges when adapting to college life as it is. Now there seems to be a larger emphasis placed on out of class room studying. With this emphasis we as students will be held accountable to apply our time management skills to accomplish our education goals. Sometimes we will be faced with the challenge of managing a hectic social, work, college schedule. One way to be responsible is to own up to your mistakes and actions, and realize that you are in charge of the overall outcome. For all students, utilizing personal responsibility to achieve college success includes demonstrating good time management strategies effectively as well. It's safe to say the average college student will spend half as much of their time in a class room as opposed to when they were in high school. What that means is they are going to have to be dedicated with their studies. As a student you will need to set priorities in your life and develop the discipline needed to do well in college.

Probably the most important aspect of demonstrating personal responsibility is realizing that happiness and having control of one's life go hand in hand. Choices we make today can affect our opportunities in the future. As noted by Anne Frank in her diary, "Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands." This is a powerful quote from Anne Frank, I believe if applied to our determination to be successful in college